Making Sense of It

A photo of Dean Amber Miller As humans, we construct our reality through an intricate, subconscious balancing act between biological sensory perception and prior knowledge. That balance was impacted over the past few years as many of our interactions shifted to virtual modes of socializing and communicating.

As this shift took place, it was fascinating to me to see how some people thrived in that recalibrated world, while others found online interaction exhausting and couldn’t wait to return to in-person interactions.

But it isn’t just the evolving technological landscape and our individual makeup that complicates the ways in which we experience the world. Our sensory pathways are undergoing alterations and recalibration all the time to keep up with an external environment that’s rapidly transforming — from the increased noise and bustle of growing cities to the effects of climate change.

Fortunately — through advances in neuroscience and imaging, along with better understanding of the ways that culture affects our perception of the world — we can develop strategies to navigate new sensory environments. We can also begin to anticipate what reality might look, feel and sound like in a technologically enhanced future.

This issue of USC Dornsife Magazine taps our academic researchers for insights on a wide range of topics related to the ways in which our senses help us perceive the world. You’ll read about different ways that scent has been conceptualized in India, how taste is a passport to experience Los Angeles, the ways sound shapes our world, touch deprivation in the internet age, and more.

I hope you enjoy the experience.

Amber D. Miller
Dean, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Anna H. Bing Dean’s Chair